Looking for inexpensive RAW converter/photo editor software

[CptObvious]

I take photos as a hobby...had a Nikon D50 for a couple years and then "downgraded" to a D40. After playing around with settings, I found that my pictures look a lot better shooting in RAW and then adjusting the white balance with ViewNX, the free Nikon software, rather than using the auto white balance on the D40.

However, ViewNX doesn't have some features I'm looking for, like cropping and noise reduction. I've been looking at these:

Nikon Capture NX $116
Photoshop Elements 6 $83
Apple Aperture 2 $190

Any thoughts about these or other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Anubis]

photoshop elements is prob the best bang/buck,

apature is prob better if you can swing the cost

 

[Heidfirst]

GIMP is free http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/

 

[bigi]

SilkyPix for MAC. Considered the best by many pros.
Review.

 

[LtPage1]

Originally posted by: Anubis
photoshop elements is prob the best bang/buck,

aperture is prob better if you can swing the cost

Seconded. GIMP works well, but if you're used to Photoshop like me, you might find the UI a little unwieldy. Also, dealing with X11 adds one extra (albeit hassle-free) step.